Donald’s list: Weekend choices (Oct. 20)
Here’s a roundup of promising arts/culture picks for the weekend:
Drive-through
All eyes on Saturday will be on the Fulton Mall — whoops, Fulton Street, and it will be a while before I can train myself to automatically say that — for the official ribbon-cutting and opening celebration. This isn’t just an event; it’s an historic occasion. I remember when I came to Fresno more than 25 years ago for my job interview, and my future boss took me to lunch at the Downtown Club, pointed in the direction of the mall, and told me, “We hope this can be revitalized soon.”
Photo / Downtown Fresno Partnership
So, decades later, change is in the air. I’m crossing my fingers.
Bethany Clough has a nice list in The Bee of pop-up stores and restaurants that will line the street for the 3 p.m. ribbon cutting at Fulton Street and Mariposa Mall. Most will be open until 10. (It’s nice to see the Fresno Art Museum on the list with a wine/shopping option.) There will be two beer gardens and three stages for live music.
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I run into people who remember the grand opening of the Fulton Mall in 1964: the innovative design, the bustling stores, the big crowds. Fifty years from now, I wonder if the switch back to Fulton Street will spark the same kinds of memories.
Keyboard Concerts switch
Keyboard Concerts will welcome Vladimir Feltsman.
Late news for Fresno’s premier solo piano series: Peter Serkin, who was scheduled to play Sunday at the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts series, had to cancel for health reasons. (He is the son of the great Rudolf Serkin, whose Fresno performance more than 30 years ago at Northwest Church is still remembered with fondness by some Keyboard patrons.)
Artistic director Andreas Werz was able to find a last-minute replacement: Vladimir Feltsman, an internationally known artist who moved to the U.S. from the former Soviet Union in 1987. (He performed his very first concert in North America for President Ronald Reagan.) Feltsman is known for his expertise in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
“He played on the series about ten years ago, and we are privileged to have this eminent Russian pianist return,” Werz told me.
Details: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, Fresno State Concert Hall. Tickets: $25, $18 seniors, $5 students.
Earth tones
Elaine Wilkinson
The Fresno Community Concert Band opens its 25th season Sunday with a concert titled “Mother Earth” featuring guest artist Elaine Wilkinson on flute. (She is a 2017 FCCB scholarship winner). A description:
We focus on our own planet as we celebrate Earth’s beauty through music depicting the sea, mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers and man’s relationship to it all. Hear Vaughan Williams’ “Sea Songs,” “Mt. Everest” by Rossano Galante, “Earthdance” by Michael Sweeney, “To a New Dawn” by Philip Sparke and more.
Details: 3 and 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, Fresno City College Theatre. The concerts are free, but tickets are required from the college box office.
Original ‘Little Shop’
StageWorks Fresno on Saturday marks the final weekend of its run of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors” with a free screening of the original 1960 non-musical film directed by Roger Corman. Join Director Joel C. Abels and the cast at a post-screening talkback.
Details: 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, Fresno Art Museum’s Bonner Auditorium, 2233 N. 1st. St. The Fresno production of “Little Shop” runs 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22. (The screening is free; tickets for the show are $25, $23 students and seniors.) Here’s my preview and review. (Updated: The screening is 11 a.m. Saturday, not noon.)
Work by Larry Hill is at the Selma Arts Center.
Selma Arts Center
Quick visual art pick: The art of Larry Hill is featured at the Selma Arts Center. At one point, Hill showed his work at the Sydney Janis Gallery in New York, alongside pieces by Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning. His last show in the Fresno area was at 18121 Gallery & Studios.
Details: The show runs through Nov. 10.
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